Peril Across The Sea
by April Mayz
Summary: Will is sent across the ocean to help a small village with a "small" problem. When he gets injured fighting the Temujai some old friends come in to help rid the Shiriki of the pest that the Temujai are.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Whoo Hoo! First Ranger's Apprentice Story! Disclaimer: I do not own The Ranger's Apprentice or relating characters... **

**That aside, I hope you enjoy my story and don't kill me because of what I wrote...**

* * *

><p>Will crouched behind shrubs, watching. Women sat outside cone-shaped tents weaving and braiding. Another dark woman with a woven bowl joined the first woman. She was smashing something dark purple with a stone. Children ran to the women and tried to steal some of the dark mash and the women clicked their tongues at the children, but smiled. These strange, dark people were obviously very good at hunting, Will had noted, because of the intricate snares that he had followed up until this point.<p>

Not dangerously close, not too far, he lay crouched in the dense bushes that were new to him. Not knowing much about these strange people and not knowing their habitat had thrown Will off a bit. So he lay silent, unmoving, watching, taking in their every move. Though his ranger's training had made it possible for him crouch for hours without hurting, but after just one he began to get uncomfortable. He slowly shifted his weight and wished he hadn't drunk water prior to the wait. Will had learned from other's mistakes and knew that the slightest movements could give away a position, so he laid low.

He had been sent into these parts of the country across the sea because of a disturbance. Will, being one of the best rangers of Araluen as well as a fair negotiator (Being married to a courier, after all) was sent to check up on it before it could explode into a disastrous uproar. He hadn't yet showed himself. In fact, he hadn't even arrived until then. The journey had been tough. He first had to cross the ocean and that alone had taken a week. Then there was the mountains to cross and new land to follow. The Araluen maps were crude outlines; nothing more than a sketch of what was thought to be what the land looked like. Will, a fast, and still young ranger, had come with some difficulty.

As he watched nothing majorly dramatic happened, due to whom he was watching, he figured. The uncomfortable feeling built more and more in his abdomen, a discomfort that is not eased by shifting position. Finally, he slunk back into the shadows to relieve himself. Taking this as an opportunity for a new looking spot he scampered up the back of a tree and settled on a sturdy branch a ways up. Hidden among the needles he watched the whole village.

Much of the same thing was going on everywhere. Children played, women sewed and cooked and some interestingly clad men were working some wood, Will couldn't tell what into, though.

As he watched his earlobe began to tingle, sensing someone near. He kept perfectly still and tried looking out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly an arrow slammed into the tree next to his leg. Another one followed, hitting right next to the still-tingling ear. The message was clear. They had seen him. No point in being concealed now, Will looked down at the men. One of them said something, probably in their native language. Will shrugged and shook his head, indicating that he didn't understand. A younger man, maybe Will's age, stepped forward. "Foreigner?" he asked. His common tongue was not good, but it was better than the first option.

"Yes," Will said slowly, "I come from Araluen. Across the sea. I mean peace."

The boy frowned but relayed the message in the native language. The old man frowned and gestured for Will to come down. And Will saw that he should come down right away. When both feet touched the ground two men grabbed his arms and led him to their village. They paraded him right through the middle. Children stopped their playing and pointed. Women hushed and looked up form their sewing. The men carving the wood glared after Will.

They led him to a big log cabin. Inside there was old man sitting cross-legged on a mat in front of a fire. The first man talked to him, glancing over at Will occasionally and once pointing to the boy who understood Will. Then the older man turned to Will and began to speak. "Welcome to our village," the boy interpreted, "I am Takoda, leader of the Shiriki tribe. My Galician is not good. Have Moki for talking. We do not often get foreigners. Why have you come?"

"Sir. I am Ranger Will Treaty. I come from Araluen, across the sea. We heard there was trouble in these parts. I came to see what is happening and offer assistance." He spoke slowly and clearly, hoping the man would understand. He did.

"Trouble, yes," he said on his own, "Try and help, you may, if you wish. Offer you a bed, I would, but village not trusting you yet. You foreigner. We have trouble with foreigner many in past."

"Then what may I do to win their trust?"

"We know _Araluen_ and like. Good people. Help us in time of need. We tell village you will help." He turned to the first man. They talked in the Shiriki language, then Takoda turned back to Will. "Tocho gathers people. We introduce…?"

"Will Treaty," he answered.

"Will Treaty," Takoda said back slowly, "We introduce Will Treaty. Good person, Will Treaty. Help us out. Right?"

"Yea sir." Then Tocho was back, ready for them to make the announcement.

'This almost sounds too easy,' Will thought inwardly.

"Shiriki people," The boy, now known as Moki, translated for Will, "In these dark times comes a ray of sunshine. This ray has been given to us by an Araluen. Will Treaty," Will was shoved out next to him, "Has offered to help us rid us of the Temujai!" Cheers rang out.

'Wait. What?' Will thought, but it did not show.

* * *

><p>"Temujai taking over neighboring villages. Our people are frightened. No threat yet, but we see what they do to other innocent tribes. Bad things. Kill. Take men and women slaves. We are preparing, but still scared."<p>

Will paced back and forth. He should have assessed before jumping into helping, but he knew it was too late now. "I'd like to get backup from Araluen. Could we send a messenger tomorrow morning, first thing?" He asked.

"Yes. Moki knows way. Knows shortcut too. Still young, fast, will do good," Takoda replied.

"Then may I have something to write a message on?" Takoda pointed to Moki, who ran off instantly. "Thank you," Will said, "Now, do you know how many they have?"

Takoda nodded. "Two hundred. Not many injured. No opposition. But we are a hunting village. Strong. Just not strong enough."

Will nodded. "How many men do you have?"

"Fifty warriors and hunters. Thirty woodsmen, strong, train easily if time. Twenty Boys who play with slingshots. Could be useful."

"How old are the boys?" Will asked. He wasn't sure how old their adult cutoff was.

"Most over twelve under eighteen," Takoda replied. Will wrote everything down, addressing the letter to Horace, Halt and the battle master. Then made a rubbing of his Oak leaf, as a seal. Then he put the letter away and, after a farewell to Takoda along with thanks, he went off to bed.

* * *

><p>Will awoke in the morning to the sound of battle cries. He jumped out of bed as a young boy ran in. "Will!" he said with a heavy accent, "The Temujai attack us!" He said it with much difficulty and butchery, but Will got the point. Frustrated, he threw on his cloak and grabbed his weapons that were already beside him.<p>

He ran out of the tent to see a small party of Temujai fighting all of the sleepy Shiriki men. Will knew this was just a small party, but even a small number of Temujai could do a lot of damage. They focused attacks on skilled military leaders, so as to weaken the group they were fighting. That way they were easier to pick out.

Will pulled out his longbow and found a good clear spot. Then, one by one, he began weeding out the Temujai. One after one they fell, wondering where the arrow had come from. But Will knew the confusion would only last so long. One of them would see where the arrows were coming from and attack there first. It happened before Will had anticipated and that's when things went wrong. As he was focusing in on a particularly influential Temujai, a rock flying from a confiscated sling slammed into his thumb. He dropped his longbow at the initial pain. It skittered away. In a split second, Will had pushed the pain aside for the moment to retrieve his prized weapon. But as he dove for it, a Great Shiriki War Horse ('Not so great to me, now are you?' Will thought afterward) ran by, trampling it. Will, still on the ground, picked up the broken pieces of his old friend. But there was no time for reminiscing. Shiriki were putting up a good fight, but were still losing. He pulled out the backup, his saxe knife, and ran in. Not knowing how to start, he stayed back. Out in the midst of battle, he saw the chief, Takoda and everything around him. He was fighting one Temujai with his fire-tempered staff. Though it was tough, Will knew, but it couldn't hold up forever against the Temujai's sword. It was already starting to crack. He was also getting pushed towards a big boulder, his back to it. Will sprinted through the battle to him just as his staff broke. Takoda fell against the rock, holding a hand above his face. The Temujai raised his sword. But it never fell. He never even saw it coming, the saxe knife to the lung. And he had no time to register before he face planted into the ground. Will kicked the Temujai's sword to Takoda. "Stronger than your staff."

"More effective too, I'd imagine." Takoda replied.

Will sensed someone else behind him. He turned to face another Temujai. Will was not accustomed to close combat, and was a little confused at first. Next to him Takoda rose up, sword in hand and attacked. He used the sword in much of the same way as the staff. It was effective, in that he knocked both his and his opponent's weapons out of their hands, sending them flying away. And seeing no point in getting them, the Temujai reached for his boot. Will saw the dagger coming before it was even out. He shoved Takoda as gracefully as possible, which turned out not so graceful. Instead of Takoda's torso, it was Will's arm that got cut. Just a scratch, really, but it still hurt. Seeing this new threat, the Temujai attacked. His dagger against Will's saxe knife. Seems unfair, until you factor in the Temujai's years and years of close combat training against Will's distance. Not used to sword fighting, Will let himself get backed against the rock, just as he had seen Takoda do the minute before. He didn't notice until he started to trip on the smaller rocks, and by then it was too late. The Temujai, maybe by luck or by the way Will was holding his knife that it was how he knew of Will's thumb. He swung the butt of his knife directly into Will's injured thumb. Will cried out and dropped the knife as his thumb cracked. The Temujai swung the knife back around, stabbing Will in the gut. He gasped, frozen. The Temujai kicked him hard in the chest, sending the paralyzed Will crashing into the rock. As he hit his head and blacked out the Temujai stepped over him towards the Shiriki leader.

* * *

><p><em>(Translation)<em>

"Tocho. Thank you for saving me."

"It is my duty Takoda."

"The boy. Look. Is he dead?"

Will wasn't sure if they were speaking another language or if it was the headache blocking his ears. A hand was placed on his pulse. "It's just an ear infection. Just let it cool." He slurred.

"What did he say?" Asked Tocho in his language.

"Don't mind the spiders. They can ride a horse." Then Will threw up and blacked out again.

"Something about an infection that cools and spiders on horses…? Come now. Get a healer to him. He must live; otherwise we may be in trouble, with the Temujai and Araluen. And send to Moki. Tell him Will Treaty is gravely injured, may not live. He must tell the Araluen who the message is to be delivered to. Then send him on his way. We don't have much time until the Temujai are back."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Yay! Chapter 2! It's also Mother's Day, so Happy Mother's Day to any moms who are reading this. My mom LOVES The Ranger's Apprentice and also Artemis Fowl. Anyways, please review if you like it and also if you don't. I love suggestions!

* * *

><p>Horace rushed down from his quarters early that morning. A page had run into his room ten minutes earlier with news. A man with a telegram addressed to him, the battlemaster and Halt. It was from Will. He knew it couldn't be terribly good news if Will had addressed those particular people. That combination usually meant a war.<p>

When he ran into the conference room he saw Sir Rodney. On the table was a letter. "Welcome Horace," Rodney said, "We can finally get started now!" Horace smiled at Rodney's lightheartedness. He knew the letter

"Ok, I'll read this out loud for everyone," Sir Rodney said. Horace chuckled. 'All these people,' he thought. 'Hope he doesn't get nervous…'

"To Sir Rodney, Halt, and Horace at Castle Araluen. I am in the Shiriki village in a time of great need. The Temujai are in the area, attacking the surrounding villages. I will need some assisting forces. The Temujai are about 200 strong. The Shiriki have 50 men good with bow and sword, 20 woodsmen good with an axe and some boys that can slingshot.

"You remember the Temujai. Think of that when you bring troops. I am not the Sunrise Warrior, so I'll leave that part to you. We have a guide for you. He should be able to get you here in time.

"Yours, Will Treaty."

Horace noticed the rubbing of the Oak leaf, obviously a makeshift seal. "Wow. They have it bad." Rodney said after putting the letter back down.

"Yeah," Horace agreed, "Completely outnumbered, facing the Temujai. Evenlyn was captured by them years and years ago."

"I know. You've told me. A few times."

"Sorry. So, do we send a message to Halt? I'm sure he can find his own way there?"

"Possibly…" Rodney scratched at his chin whiskers. "It's a little out of the way, so we could, but if we're bringing men…"

"Sirs?" The messenger, who had been sitting awkwardly watching the two men talk, finally spoke up. "I bring more news. Day I left Temujai attacked. Only a small party. They were defeated, but many injuries and death to us."

"At least they have a ranger," Rodney said hopefully, trying to shed some light on the bad situation.

"No ranger, sir," The boy said. "Will Treaty was one of the injured and may soon be one of the dead."

The room spun. "No…" Horace choked, "Will… can't get hurt… he's… he's… a ranger…"

Rodney seemed equally shocked. "Well, then we're stopping on the way to get Halt."

"No." Horace said firmly, getting a grip on the spinning. "I am."

* * *

><p>Horace stopping in randomly when Will was gone didn't happen very often unless he needed something. Halt knew this was not a pleasure; "just-because-I'm-still-somewhere-in-my-twenties-I-can-still-pull-this-off" kind of trip by the way Horace reacted to his sarcastic comments.<p>

"Finally he comes to visit," Just got a nod and a glance at the ground. He seemed to be antsy to get on with whatever he had to say. Halt led him into a big room for discussion.

"We may need a courier for this," Horace said, "A certain courier." Halt went off to get her.

Alyss came in she immediately threw her arms around Horace. "Hello! How good to see you!" For a moment Horace forgot why he had come.

"Hello, Alyss. How are you guys?"

Alyss smiled proudly. "We're good."

Halt cleared his throat. "Greetings later, Horace. Earlier you seemed to have urgently needed to tell me something, just judging by the way you were jumping around like a puppy."

Horace shrugged as he remembered. Might as well get it over with. "I received this from Will today." He said, handing the letter to Halt. He read through it, frowned, and passed it to Alyss, who smiled briefly at the handwriting, then gained her courier face again.

"Rodney is back at Castle Araluen gathering troops. He will leave tomorrow, if all goes as planned. So far it hasn't," He added under his breath, angrily. "I am leaving today with a Shiriki guide. You know what I'm going to ask Halt."

"Ah. But do you know what I am going to ask?" Horace shook his head. "What happened that was not planned?"

Horace took a deep breath. This would be the hard part, especially with Alyss there. But she had to know. "The day after Will wrote this the Temujai attacked. Early in the morning, so no one expected it. It was a small party and the Shiriki were able to defeat them, but with many deaths and injuries…" He scuffed his foot and picked at his thumb, a habit he had when stressed. "Will… Moki said he was injured, may not make it. That's why I'm going today."

Halt looked at Alyss. "Horace, may I please have a moment alone with the lady?"

* * *

><p>"What?" Alyss shrieked as soon as Horace was gone. "Will? There's got to be a mistake…" She was breathing hard. Halt stared at the wooden table that was in front of him, not speaking. "God, Halt! We've got to go! We need to save Will…"<p>

"No Alyss. There's no 'We' here."

"Halt!" she protested.

"No Alyss," He stood up and towered over her, but only because she was sitting. "I am not going to have my daughter-in-law crossing an _ocean_, tramping over _new country_, right into the hands of the _Temujai_ under no circumstances."

"Oh, well since when has Will been your son?" But Alyss already knew the answer.

Halt glared. "You know…"

"And who was right in Nihon-Ja?" She asked, and again her question needed no answer.

"That was different," Halt was now in very much of an argument mode. "I'm not going to let you put yourself and others in danger. Think of Soybean." Alyss looked down at her not any more soybean-sized baby tummy. "You're six and half months pregnant, Alyss. This would be so dangerous."

"But Will…"

"Will would want you to stay and take care of Soybean. Did you guys think of names?"

"No." Alyss said firmly. "Because I'm going."

"No you're not. I will not take you!"

"Well fine," Alyss stood up as gracefully as she could. "You're not taking me. I won't go with you."

Strangely, these words did not satisfy Halt.

* * *

><p>Halt followed Horace who followed Moki. "My boat is up the coast a ways. It may take a while to get there." Then he looked back at the Ranger and Warrior on their horses. "Or we may need to find bigger boat."<p>

"Any miracle boat accommodations, Halt?" Horace asked, "Do we have any Skandians handy?"

"This is going to sound really unrealistic, but… yes." Horace took the lead and led them towards the docks.

When they arrived at the incredible Skandian ship a familiar voice called out, "Oye there Grey-Beard! Twinkle toes! Come to borrow from my wine cellar again, eh?"

"No, Erak. We need a serious favor," Horace started to explain, but was cut off.

"I suppose it has something to do with my boat?"

"Uh… Yeah… See, we need to get to the land across the ocean… uh…?"

"Novo," Halt finished for him.

"Yeah… Novo… We need to get there as soon as possible. So could you spare us a favor?"

"Again?" Erak raised an eyebrow. "Ah! Just teasing. It's no problem. I was just going to swing all the way there before heading back home to Skandia. I have some…" He glanced over his shoulder, "Cargo…"

Horace looked at Halt. "Looks like we've got ourselves a ride." The Ranger said as he, hesitantly climbed aboard.

* * *

><p>Halt had his usual "On a Boat Ritual" to attend to, much to Erak's delight. Skandians thought seasickness was hilarious, since it didn't happen to them. He leaned over the side of the ship and sang praise to a sea god the Skandians had never heard of. He hadn't anticipated getting on a boat to cross the ocean to save Will that morning at breakfast. If he had, things wouldn't be as miserable. Or as colorful. In between retches he heard a sound just like the one he had just been making. He spun around, searching for Horace. He found him, standing next to the other railing. But he wasn't seasick. The girl whose back he was rubbing was. Alyss. Halt stormed over to him in rage. "So you rub <em>her<em> back when she is getting sick into the ocean, but not me?" Horace tried to explain, but Halt cut him off, "And what is _she_ doing here? I told you to stay!" This last statement was directed at Horace.

"Well," Horace started explaining, "First off, if I tried to touch you, you'd push my hand away. You're a man, Halt, so it would be awkward. That brings me to my second point. Alyss is a lady, and I am a gentleman. I take care of my best friend's pregnant wife. Which brings me to your last question. (Man I'm on a roll with this!) If Pauline was dying somewhere you'd want to see her before she died, right?"

"Well…" Halt wanted to make a point to Alyss, but couldn't lie about lovely Pauline. "Yeah…"

"Especially if you were carrying her child…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…" Horace had gone too far. "Like pregnant, or holding it for her, because I'm a man."

Horace thought for a minute. "True. But what if you were?"

"I hate you," Was Halt's moody, post-seasickness reply. But it wasn't over yet, so he just stood next to Alyss to finish up his sicking.

* * *

><p>"So how far along are you?" Horace asked Alyss. They were standing at the bow of the boat looking over into the water. Alyss had long finished her visit with the side of the boat and had taken her nap afterward ("Getting sick is tiring business,").<p>

"Six and a half months," She replied.

"Will knows, right?"

"Course," Alyss laughed. "He left two weeks ago…" She looked at her belly, obviously thinking about him. Thinking bad things about him. Horace took this as an opportunity to talk about his life.

"Evenlyn doesn't want that yet. I mean, kids."

Alyss looked him in the eye. "Do you?"

Horace sighed, tearing his eyes away from hers and looked up at the gray sky. "Well… Yeah, a little bit. It would be hard, though. Me being a warrior, having to leave at a minutes notice. Like now." He gestured to the boat. "And she's the princess of Araluen and has no time to take care of a kid. We would have to get a nanny to take care of it, er… him or her… and I don't want to have a kid that's raised by someone paid to do it, you know. I'd want to have _my_ Mommy or Daddy taking care of me. Not that I did when _I_ was a kid though…" Alyss nodded, understanding. She and Will had also been Horace's ward mates, but Horace was a lot nicer now than he was then… "I do want a kid to play around with though, and Evenlyn needs an Heir, so some day…"

"Yeah…" Alyss replied looking out. It was quiet for a minute before she started talking again. "I'm not sure how it's going to work with us, Will and me, I mean. You know, with his current Ranger position he has to travel wherever there's danger, so he could be gone a lot. And I'm a courier, which also includes traveling. Will and I were going to discuss it, but…" She trailed off and turned her head. Horace could see her shoulders shaking slightly. Horace had never seen Alyss cry, or even thought of her crying, so this took him a minute to figure out what to do.

"Hey," He said, putting an arm around on her shoulder. "You ok?"

Alyss sniffed. "Well… I'm crying in front of you… and I never… cried in front of people… because it shows… weakness… so do you really need… to ask?" She was hiccupping already, though she wasn't crying very hard. Probibly the seasickness just an hour beofre had something to do with it.

"Well, then… what's wrong, I guess…?"

"You know that too," Alyss wiped her nose on her sleeve.

"Will?" Horace asked, and Alyss nodded.

"I'm just afraid that… that... he'll never get to meet Soybean, and Soybean will never meet daddy."

Horace cocked his head. "Soybean?" Alyss rubbed her stomach. "Oh. Well… We're all worried Alyss. I know you're worried, but have you seen Halt?"

"I know…"

"Ok. Look, Alyss. I'm really bad at this… Comforting crying girls… I don't really do it very often." He hugged Alyss and let her sob into his shoulder. Then after an awkward moment of silence he said, "So, how do you think Halt would do with some kids of his own running all over him?"

Alyss laughed and wiped her face. "Yeah. What about a bunch of girls?"

Horace laughed and gave her his vest to wipe the rest of her face on. "Don't worry. Let's just get there first and see. Then we can decide whether it's worth it."

Alyss sighed, handing back the vest. "You're right."

"So, I'm going to go down and eat now," Horace said. "You should come too."

"Sure." Alyss said.

As they were walking down the stairs Horace asked, "So can I be the godfather?"

Alyss laughed. "I'll talk to Will, then we'll see."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Alrighty then. Please review, especially if you have suggestions or if you liked it! I'll post again as soon as I can!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Yay! I feel happy! I hope you do too! I have been able to post every day for three days in a row on my new story! Don't worry, because I have most of it done. I may or may not post tomorrow (Depending on how late I get home... If I have time...) So for now...**

**Enjoy Chapter 3!**

**~April**

* * *

><p>Will woke up in a strange place, in a strange bed, with a strange headache that he had no idea where it had come from. There were lots of people in the room, all hurt, Will noticed. His hand was splinted and wrapped. He looked at it, amazed. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that it was bad that his hand was wrapped up, that hand in particular, but the headache was blocking him from thinking. He also could hardly see. Everything was swoopy and fuzzy and made him motion sick.<p>

"Will Treaty is awake," a man said. "How are you feeling today?" The words strangely didn't make sense to Will, so he closed his eyes and passed out again.

* * *

><p>The Skandian ship was able to make it across the ocean within three days. "It's this new thing with the mast called-"<p>

"Yes, yes. We were introduced to the method on our way to Nihon-Ja," Halt cut Erak off quickly, no hint of a joking tone in his voice.

Halt had been inwardly stressed out and extremely worried ever since Horace had showed up, and though he had done a good job of hiding it for the past two days, it had gotten to a point where he could no longer stand it. Today he was hostile and kept to himself.

Though he may have seemed angry to Horace and Alyss and Erak and his crew, he was mostly scared. Will was like his son. When he was his apprentice, Halt had grown more fond of Will than he had with, no offense, Gillian. And Will would be his only "son", he knew. He was somewhere in his fifties/sixties (No one knows how old he really is) and was not going to be having any offspring of his own. But Will was like his own, and Will felt the same way, he knew. And Halt couldn't even bear to think about losing Will. He loved him. And what would be worse is losing Will and his expecting wife Alyss.

"Alright then…" Erak didn't like it that a Land-Loving Ranger already knew the fun boat fact that he was about to share, but detected some unpleasant feelings, but couldn't put a finger on what they were from.

Halt's bad mood had taken effect on Horace too. For the past few days he had had to deal with Alyss crying, Halt and Alyss squabbling about her coming along, Halt and Alyss puking at the same time on either sides of him, nights of no sleep because of the rocking and thinking about Will, Erak and the Skandians being… Skandians, and his own thoughts tumbling around in his mind like the rocking of the ocean. A few times he had had to turn his head away and bite his tongue to keep from crying in front of Halt. Today it was getting difficult.

"How much farther are we going?" Alyss asked.

"We'll drop you land creatures off in about a half hour. Then it's back to Skandia!" Erak said cheerily.

"Thank you so much!" Alyss said, hugging Erak.

Erak blushed and hugged her back, delicately, so as to not squish Soybean. "No problem, my Lady. Anytime you need us, you have our assistance."

Halt snorted and stalked moodily downstairs to pack up his stuff.

* * *

><p>After the Skandians dropped them off it was tense. Moki led them through forest and over hills and over lots of dirt paths. This was difficult for pregnant Alyss. Once upon a time it would have been easier for her, but now she had to hold herself and Soybean up after a few nights of no sleep. She was tired, but didn't want to hold the group up, especially since she knew Halt was right, and the mood he was she knew he would have no problem telling her so. Her feet hurt and felt swollen too and she needed to go to the bathroom. But she kept moving along.<p>

Horace was holding back tears. He didn't want to whine, but he was exhausted and Halt was stressing him out. He held onto his sword tightly for support.

And halt was just plain annoyed. With everything, the situation, Alyss, Horace (who Halt could tell was upset), even the Skandians who had given them a ride. Mostly he was just generally upset and tired.

Alyss's steps got heavier and heavier, more painful too. Finally she stumbled and fell. Halt swore as he ran to her and inspected her. "I'm fine, I'm fine," She insisted, brushing off her hands. Horace helped her up. "Ow, ow!" Horace picked her up and placed her on a log. Pulling off her shoes she saw that her feet were large, purple and blue. Halt swore some more. "Do you have anything else to say?" Alyss snapped, "Because I'm getting really tired of your attitude and that word." Halt glared, but said nothing. "I know you were right, but don't go on and on about it."

"Stop!" Halt finally yelled. The muttering, "I'll be right back," he turned and stalked off into the forest, pulling up to hood on his cloak.

Horace turned his attention back to Alyss. "How far can you go, do you think? I mean, honestly."

Alyss looked at her fat feet. "Not much farther, without a break. But it would have to be a long break."

"How much farther?" He asked Moki.

"About eight… uh… kilometers?" Moki said, unsure.

"Yes. Kilometers. Good job." Moki looked pleased at his good Galician. "So can you walk eight kilometers?"

Alyss shook her head.

"Then…" Horace looked to Moki for support.

"Carry her?" Moki suggested.

Horace looked to Alyss for approval. "Sure…" She said, " As long as you can carry my weight plus Soybean. And please don't drop me."

"Ok. I'll try. Where's Halt?"

And heard his call, tramping out of the woods in a very un-Rangery manner. "Don't mention it." He growled.

"Only eight kilometers left," Horace tried to reassure Halt. "And we found a way to get Alyss there. I'm going to carry her."

"What? Eight kilometers?"

"Well… Not the whole way."

"Ok. Your back. Not mine." Halt's eyes were red and puffy, and Alyss could see it even with his cloak pulled down far. He was clearly very stressed out.

* * *

><p>"Ok… Got to stop now." Horace had gone a fair distance carrying Alyss, about three kilometers, but was completely drained and the sun was setting.<p>

"Stop for night?" Moki asked.

"Sure," Halt said, who was in a slightly better mood than before, but still was prickly.

The men set up camp while Alyss started dinner. Everyone was a little moody in his or her own way, so everyone was quiet through dinner, but then things livened up. Horace told stories of battles, using a stick as his sword. He told about his time in Nihon-Ja and when he first went to battle school. He acted out the hazing, using Alyss and occasionally Halt, and Halt smiled a little bit. Then Alyss told them about growing up in the orphanage. Then Moki offered to tell them Shiriki legends, which were greatly entertaining. Moki did make them more interesting with acting and some hyperbole. And Halt even told the story in which Will's father saved his life. By then everyone was tired and all went off to bed.

"In the morning," Moki told Alyss, "We'll leave. Be there soon. Do not worry."

'I'll try not to,' Alyss thought as she drifted off for the first time since they left.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: PLEASE REVIEW! I have gotten no reviews yet, but I HAVE gotten Favorite Story and Story Alerts. If you do like please tell me so through review. And if you think it sucked, please be polite about how you tell me, but you may (if you're nice and give pointers please). **

**Other than that HAVE A HAPPY WEEK!**

**DFTBA**


	4. Chapter 4

_Two Days Before_

Will woke up again, but this time cold, wet and in a different bed. "Wha-" he began.

"Good. You're up. How do you feel?" Someone, probably Takoda asked. Will tried sitting up, but fell back onto the pillow as stabbing pain shot right through his stomach. "Stay still Will Treaty." Takoda said. "You have been injured."

"How?" Will squeaked through the pain.

"Battle," Another man said. "Fighting Temujai. What you call Concussed?"

"Concussed?" Will was seriously confused.

"Yes. And broked large finger. Also large cut in stomach." The man's Galician was obviously very bad, even worse than Takoda claimed to be.

"I'll translate for you," Takoda said to the man's pleasure. "So, can you hear us?" Will cocked his head. "Can you see my number of fingers?" Will squinted, but shook his head. All of the fingers ran together. "Can you speak?"

Will put his head deeper into the folded blanked that he was propped up on.

Takoda kept asking, and Will kept not answering, getting more and more confused with each question. Finally they left him with some water and food, but he didn't touch it and fell back asleep.

Present Time

By the morning everyone was a little more bearable. A nigh of sleep had done them all well. Halt had woken everyone early so that they could leave early too. "I want to get there before tomorrow night," He said.

Horace and Halt fixed breakfast and coffee. Alyss got hot water. Moki had never heard of coffee, so the Ranger let him try some. His expression livened the group up even more. Moki handed the cup back to Halt. "No thank you," he said, looking for something to wash down the aftertaste. After breakfast Halt rushed around packing so that they could leave.

Then they started walking again. Alyss felt better than the day before, but her feet still hurt. She didn't say anything though. 'No offense to Horace,' she thought, 'But I hated being carried.'

* * *

><p><em>Present Time<em>

"There she is," Halt whispered. They were hiding in the same shrubs as Will had been just a week before, looking at the small village. They were waiting for Moki to come back. He had gone off to tell the tribe leader of their arrival.

"Look at that lady's rug thing!" Horace exclaimed in a whisper. Alyss had seen her. She was not only working on the rug, but also looking after three squirrelly children and attending to their needs. Alyss looked down at Soybean, wondering how she would manage her courier duties and being a mom, and now possibly without Will.

Horace glanced over at her and patted her shoulder, knowing why she was worried. "You'll be fine," He said like he was talking to a two-year-old.

"Wait… What?" Halt popped in in-between them. He had missed the non-verbal part of the conversation.

Horace laughed. "Here's our guide."

Moki popped into the bushes. "Come. He is ready for you." They followed him through the town, gazes following them.

Moki led the to a big log cabin. Above the door there was a turtle carved into the wood. "What…?" Horace started to ask, but decided it wasn't the time. Inside was huge. There were bunks along the walls with hardly any blankets and no pillow, Horace noted grimly. There was a man sitting next to a fire. He looked up, recognizing Moki. "Ah, thank you son, now will you please notify the healer in charge of Will Treaty," He said to Moki in their Native language. All the Araluens got out of it was Will Treaty, which caught their ear. Then in the Common Tongue the man said, "Welcome to Shiriki. I am Takoda, leader of our village. I am sorry for my bad speaking of Galician. I assume you are the friends of Will Treaty?" The three nodded. "Good. What do they call you?"

Halt stepped forward first, "I am called Halt."

Takoda raised an eyebrow at his name. "Like the word 'Stop?'"

Halt sighed. 'Why did Mother let Father name me that?' he thought. "Yes," He said aloud. "I am Will's… uh… well, he was my apprentice, but he's… he's like my son."

"Like Moki," Takoda replied.

"What?"

"No kids of my own, but Moki… orphaned, so I help him, give him home, teach him Galician and many other things. Not blood related, but by love."

Halt nodded, understanding. Takoda's words tumbled around in his head and Horace stepped forward. "I am Horace Altman, knight at Castle Araluen. Will and I have fought side-by-side many times together. He is my best friend."

Takoda nodded. "Good of you to come." He looked at Alyss. "You brought baby along? I don't know word for baby in tummy."

"Yes, I'm pregnant," Alyss said. "I'm Alyss Mainwaring Treaty, Will's wife. And this is Soybean Treaty," She said holding her belly.

"Soybean," Takoda repeated, "How many months?"

"Six and two… three weeks. Almost seven then…" She added, just for her own thought process.

"Dangerous to come such a long way with… Soybean…?"

Halt looked smugly at Alyss, who sighed. "Yes, Halt didn't want me to come, but I love Will so much…"

On cue Moki walked back in. "They can see him now," He said in his language.

Takoda thanked him, then turned to the Araluens. "Follow Moki. He will take you to friend." They thanked Takoda and followed Moki out.

* * *

><p>Will was in a smaller version of the huge log cabin that Takoda lived in. The house was obviously built for only a few people, but now only Will was occupying it. He lay very still in a cot pushed against one wall. On a table next to him was water and food, but they were untouched. He opened an eye when his friends came in.<p>

"Hey, Will," Horace said softly. "How are you?"

"Good, considering the what I went through." His voice sounded strained, like it hurt him to talk.

"So what happened?" Horace asked.

"Battle, Temujai." Will's answers were short.

But Horace was not out of questions. "So what's wrong with-" He was cut off by Halt.

"Oh, you're just as bad as he was as an apprentice!" Then Halt turned his attention on Will. "So does it hurt to talk? And don't _say_ yes if it hurts. Nodding is just fine." Will nodded. "Why does it hurt?" Will pointed to his stomach and then the blanket. "Look?" Halt interpreted. Will nodded again. Will had a gauze band around his middle. On the right side was a big red, crusted spot where his wound had bled through.

Even this small amount of _dry_ blood was too much for Alyss to handle. And maybe it was because she was pregnant or because it was why Will was very hurt, or maybe both, but Alyss had to get out of there. "I'm sorry," She whispered and fled.

Halt tried to divert Will's attention. "Any other injuries I might want to know about?" He asked. Will tapped his head, concussion, and held up his right arm and pointed to his thumb. "Broken," He said.

Halt and Horace told him about their journey over, leaving out the miserable, seasick, angsty parts. And Will closed his eyes and let them talk. When they were done he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Where's Alyss?" He asked with difficulty and pain.

"Uh… Outside I think…" Horace replied.

"Can I see her?" Will asked.

Halt stood up and blinked a few times. "Yeah. We'll go find her and you can talk to her alone." He patted Will's shoulder softly then went to go find Alyss.

"Halt," Will said, stopping Halt in the doorway. "Thanks for coming."

"No problem," The old ranger said and left.

"You too," Will directed this at Horace.

"Like Halt said, no problem. You've always been there for me, so it's my turn to come to my best friend's rescue." Will smiled at him. "Now, I'll find Alyss."

Alyss had been sitting just outside the doorway. The sight of the bloody bandage had freaked her out a lot and she needed to calm down before seeing Will again. When Halt, then Horace came out, she knew her calming time was over. She put on a courier face, a nice loving one of Will, and stepped inside the house.

Will's face brightened when he saw her. "Hey," He whispered.

"Hi," She said back, sitting down on a stool that was next to him.

"You brought Soybean with you," Will whispered, as though she wouldn't or had the choice not to bring Soybean. She turned sideways and frontways to show Will. He smiled and put a hand to feel for kicks.

Alyss sat back down. "Does it hurt your… side… to whisper?" She asked.

He shook his head, but then stopped and thought about it. "A little, but not as much as talking out loud. It's still a little confusing still."

"What's confusing?"

Will sighed and put his head in the pillow-blanket he was resting on. "The light. Words. Sound. My head hurts all the time and makes me think weird."

"What do mean by 'Weird'?" Alyss was concerned.

"It's just hard to think. Takoda says I hit my head. That was a pretty bad day for injuries. I also broke my thumb." He held up the arm-and-finger splint to show her.

"Oh, poor thing," Alyss stroked his face to show him her love. Then she changed the subject. "Did Horace tell you that he had to carry me three kilometers?" Will shook his head, then closed his eyes, sensing a story. Alyss understood. Light, sound concussion… "Well, we were walking and walking and walking and my feet really hurt, but I wasn't going to say anything. But then I fell and Horace looked at my feet and said I couldn't walk anymore. And since we wanted to get here and we had no horse, I had to be carried. And he carried me for three kilometers. Then he dropped me, but still…" She trailed off, noticing Will. His breathing had slowed down to a natural sleeping pace. When she stopped talking he jumped a little, blinked and winced.

"Wow…" He said in his whisper, trying to sound like he hadn't just fallen asleep. "So, three kilometers…"

Alyss smiled at him. "I'll let you sleep. Say goodbye to Soybean." She let Will pat her belly before she tucked him in again and left.

* * *

><p>As Horace and Halt stepped out of the cabin they saw Takoda standing alone, waiting. "Hello. There is something I need to show you." Horace and Halt looked back at the cabin. Takoda read their minds. "I sent a woman to wait. She take Al… the lady with her. Give her place to stay."<p>

Horace and Halt nodded to each other and followed Takoda.

Unfortunately for Horace, they were traveling uphill and at Takoda's pace. "Oden, I hurt!" he swore under his breath.

"Spending time with the Skandians, were we?" Halt sarcastically added.

"No, I'm sore from carrying a pregnant girl three kilometers then sleeping on the hard ground all night then walking more."

"First," Halt began his correcting, "Alyss is obviously now a woman. Otherwise she would not be pregnant. Second… What is wrong with the ground?"

"Easy for a ranger to say…" Horace grumbled, but left it at that. He had no strength to carry on the argument. Though he was used to walking he had never walked for three kilometers carrying over 100 pounds. And now, even though he didn't have any load but himself to carry, he was still in pain.

Finally they reached the top of the massive hill. They walked through trees, pushing branches, until they came to a spot that was clear and they could see out into the valley. Takoda stopped in front of them, blocking their view. "Temujai cause problems here. Terror spread through our village, passed from others. We defeat small party, barely. The Temujai grow closer and stronger by day as we don't. Here we can see them. They don't see us."

He stepped aside to let Horace and Halt look. Some more profanity rolled off of Horace's tongue. "This time," Halt said, solemnly staring at the massive army, "I don't blame you."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So I guess a "Courier face" is like a modern day Poker Face. Think about that next time you listen to Lady Gaga. **

**As a tradition, I shall say it again... Please Review! ESPECIALLY if you like it. Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

As they looked out at the Temujai camp, Horace hoped that Rodney and the troops would be there soon. How long would the Shiriki be able to hold that off? And what do they count as "Two hundred?" He could see Halt's was thinking the same, or at least hoping the first part. "Horace and I need to discuss this, Takoda," Halt finally said, slowly, and not for Takoda's translating sake, "Back at the village, please."

"Yes," Takoda started leading them back. The way back was quiet. So quiet that Horace felt every bump rattle his whole upper body and back. The squirrels jumping through the trees and the birds calling to each other were loud comparatively.

Back in the safety of the village, Takoda found them a cabin for storing hunting weapons and logging supplies. It was no grand conference room, and didn't even have a map, but it would do.

As soon as the door closed, Halt dove right in. "Well, I sure as heck hope Rodney gets here soon!" He said sternly.

"Well, me to, but what can I do about it?" Horace defended himself. After all, it wasn't _too_ much his fault. But that was his opinion, and the ranger obviously had a different one.

"Well, we could have waited for the army to be ready and gone together." Halt saw Horace as selfish to leave without an army to back him up. And it was his fault they were stuck alone in a new country with no military support. 

"And be two days back? And have to suffer unbearable mopey Halt for two extra days?"

Halt knew Horace had a point. He knew that he probably would have ditched as soon as the boat landed, just to see Will. But he wasn't going to show Horace that he was right; that's not how Halt rolls. "So since we can't do anything about this now," Emphasis and a glare on 'now', "What should we do? And if they do attack again what are we going to do about it? Got any battle strategies or tricks up your sleeve, Sunrise Warrior?"

Halt was attacking Horace's pride and name, so he thought for a moment, though the preferable response was to snap back. Anyways, Horace had nothing to retort with. So the next best thing to do about the most efficient way to beat both the Temujai and Halt's sass. The method that they had used in Nihon-Ja wouldn't work here. The Temujai's method was to go after strong military leaders, so the people calling the commands would be vulnerable. Though they wouldn't lose as many Shiriki, losing the commanders would make the tactic pointless. The Shiriki people had axes, but not many overly muscular men to wield them. That meant not taking the Skandian approach. The Araluen way wouldn't work either. The Shiriki didn't have a well-trained army, being at peace with the surrounding villages. Plus, there were only two rangers in the whole town and one was injured, undoubtedly out for the season. "Well…" He began, "We could wait and if the Temujai get too close we could weed them out a bit. The… Shiriki?… people are hunters right?"

"Yes, they are hunters. The plan might work. But only for a little bit. You know the Temujai. They're not stupid and they want the land and domination bad." Halt paused dramatically, to let his words of wisdom sink in. "So… What is our backup plan? For when they charge in for the kill?"

Horace thought for a moment, then smiled as he got the idea. "Why don't we fight like our enemy?"

After Alyss had left Will's cabin she found one of the women waiting outside for her. Her name was Moema, and Takoda had told her to wait for a young lady with "Golden hair and a belly full of baby." She was to take this young lady to her home and look after her. So Alyss followed Moema to her cabin. Moema shared a cabin with three other families, just like everyone else in the village, as she had told Alyss. They shared everything here, food, water, houses, so there was no need for money. And they used barter with the other neighboring villages, which they had friendly relations with. That was why they were in trouble now. No point in training an army if you intend on keeping peace, or at least that's how the Shiriki saw it. Stuck without a trained army in the time of battle. Moema told Alyss how she was scared, not only for her husband but the other men in the village. "They don't know what they're doing," she said in her heavy, soothing, accent. "Rabbits and deer don't have swords and want to kill you."

Then the ladies switched topics and talked baby instead. "Do you have a name?" Moema asked.

Alyss shook her head. "Will and I haven't talked about it yet, but I have some in mind."

"I see. Names are tough. You have name for your whole life. Tough choice for parents." That was one of the things that Moema said that made Alyss even uneasier. Moema continued. "So when will baby be born?"

"I have… two more months…" Alyss mentally sighed. Two months was not very long.

"Not long to wait," Moema chuckled, reading Alyss' mind. "Will you go home to have baby?"

The question took Alyss by surprise. "Yes," she said, "I hope so…" And she really hoped in her heart that Will would be all better by then.

At dinner Horace and Halt met up with Alyss. "My lady," Halt said bowing, "How was your talk with Will and… uh…"

"Moama," Alyss filled in for him, "And good. How was your… walk?"

"Rather not talk about that…" Halt dragged her by the elbow to sit down and eat with him. "So…" He began. "What did you and Momma talk about?"

"Moema," Alyss corrected, "And we talked about babies."

"What about babies?" Horace asked, his mouth already full of food. He didn't see much conversation in an unborn baby other than the obvious, 'How long do you have left?'

"How much time left," Horace nodded, expecting that one, "Names, and… birth, I guess."

"What names?" Halt asked. When Will and Alyss told him, after the initial what-have-you-done-Will shock, he had immediately submitted some suitable names. So, naturally, he was curious to see if they would name his "grandchild" one of them, or maybe even after him if it was a boy.

"None yet," replied Alyss, casually. Halt hung his head in mock distress.

Horace wasn't as interested in names at the moment, as he was by something else. "What did you mean when you said birth 'I guess…'?"

Alyss was hesitant to answer. And when she did it came out stuttered and awkward. "Well… uh… She asked if…" Alyss didn't want to say, because what they had talked about would just give Halt one more reason to be angry with her for coming. "She… told me gross stuff."

"What kind of gross stuff?" Horace was truly interested and Alyss' stalling was getting on his nerves. He needed to know.

"Girl stuff," Alyss replied flatly.

Horace was about to ask what kind of girl stuff, but Halt stopped him. "Trust me," he said. "When a girl says anything about 'girl stuff' you usually don't want to know what 'It' is."

'Dang right,' Alyss thought, though the thought was directed at the speaker of this wisdom.

"Alright, men!" The Captain said, "I hope none of you get seasick, because if you do, you're in for a real treat. Looks like there's a storm blowing in, so get ready to help bail the deck."

Sure enough the wind was picking up and not much later there was a full on storm hitting the ship. Waves tossed the boat about, sending water spraying onto the decks. The sailors called for the men to bail the decks. But there was one soldier in particular who was incapable of bailing.

"Sir, sir," a young, new, soldier tugged at the man's sleeve. The man didn't answer, but instead heaved over the side again. "You are needed."

The man heaved again and shook his head. "Can't…" He said between the waves of sick, "Help… now…"

"But Sir Rodney…" The boy tugged at his arm again.

Rodney turned to look at him. "William, I would be only a nuisance down there…" he paused and coughed some more dinner into the sea, "You must learn when to help… oh god… and when to… step back."

"So…"

Rodney put the hand that was not gripping the side of the boat on William's shoulder. "Someday you'll know. Go help them if you can and… if not get out of… their way." And then he turned back to face the ocean.

**A/N: Sorry it's short! Again, please review. I have gotten some good ones, so thank you if you have reviewed! **

**Have a good day!**

**~April**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm sorry I haven't been able to update in a while. What with finals and projects and the dance coming up I've been booked. So I'll try to update again soon.**

* * *

><p>Halt's stress increased as arrow after arrow slammed into the target. There was really no reason to be angry, the men were excellent at shooting and sneaking and had the range they would need too. Halt just was. It was probably just that he hadn't planned on this village having no coffee, or that the beds here were just as hard as the ground, or maybe Horace was just being too… Horacey. All day Halt had been working on shooting bows and arrows, stealth and form. After lunch Horace and Halt switched groups and Halt got to teach a new group of young men and boys the same thing. It was getting very irritating.<p>

Horace had the task of explaining the two tactics, one for keeping the Temujai away and the other for when they full on attacked, then forming ranks, explaining how battle works, running through the drills with them over and over and over. But the Shiriki had never needed an army, so the whole concept needed frequently repeated explanation. Luckily, discipline and respect were core values in the village, so that part of the individual soldier was covered. The stuff he was teaching was so basic that it bored him and irked him, and if one day of it bothered him he knew how bad he would be as a full-time instructor. Though he was frustrated he didn't show it for the sake of his soldiers. The men did help ease his stress, though, by responding and learning quickly, and they were able to get done in one day what trainees would cover in a week at Castle Araluen.

At the end of the day Horace plopped down on a long empty bench with his dinner, brought to the village proudly by Halt's classes. He was alone, until Halt, sulking, dragged himself to the bench and sat beside Horace. "Rough day?" Horace decided to ask, breaking the silence.

"More stressful than 'rough,'" Halt replied, gruffly, "Though I don't really know why."

"How were the men?" Prodded Horace.

Halt glared at the bird on his plate. "Fine."

"Then what's wrong?"

The glare turned on Horace. "Never mind then…" Mumbled Halt. The silence sat between them again until Halt stood and said, "Watch over my little friend here," He gestured to the dead, cooked bird, "And don't eat him please, Kurokuma. I'll be back in a minute."

Horace was quick to defend the honor and respect the Nihon-Ja Emperor had given him three years before. "First, that's a term of great respect. Don't mock the Kurokuma. You do not want to run into a full-on Kurokuma in attack mode. Second, where are you going?" Part of his 'little friend' was hanging out of his mouth. For the moment Halt didn't have to worry about the "Black Bear" eating his food.

"Call of nature," Halt replied. "I'm going to visit a bush, since that's the best darn bath house they've got here." And then Halt stalked off.

Horace sat awkwardly alone until Halt returned. And as Halt was sitting down and making a sarcastic comment about how lucky he was to have an un-eaten bird after he left the Kurokuma with it, a page, that neither Halt nor Horace had ever seen, ran up to them. "Temujai advance today while we train. Getting too close. What do we do?" He panted. His Galician, like most Shiriki Horace had noticed, was very bad.

Halt swore aloud, not even trying to hide his anger now. He had obviously not been distracted by the mutilation of his own native language.

The page looked awed. "Good idea. I tell the men? Maybe get big stick. Stack them high?"

"What?" Halt was seriously confused and losing his temper fast.

"You said we should 'Dam it?'" The page looked confused as well, though it was for different reasons. He was pretty sure a dam was a big wall to keep water back, or in this case, humans.

Halt sighed. "Horace," He said slowly, prompting Horace to explain.

"Halt was just… uh…" He looked to Halt for help, and found none. "Letting off some steam… So, we probably won't be using a dam, but thank you." The page nodded. "Go tell Takoda, please. About the, uh, Temujai... not the dam" The page nodded and ran off.

"Cabin… now…" said Halt, slowly and carefully. And Horace followed, slowly and carefully.

* * *

><p>"So Horace was all curious about what we had talked about and when I told him 'girl stuff' he asked what that meant. Luckily Halt knows when to ask and when not to ask." Alyss was sitting on the edge of Will's bed, filling him in on what had happened the day before.<p>

Will nodded in reply. "I don't want to know, so please don't go into detail."

'You are so right…' Thought Alyss, but quickly moved on. Something had been bothering her since she first saw Will. "Have you eaten anything since… well… you got hurt?"

Will wrinkled his nose. "I'm not that hungry though," he replied, still whispering, like the day before. "Can we keep talking about Soybean, please? What about names?"

"If you eat." Alyss was so good at convincing people, not that Will had the energy to argue. He reluctantly let himself be fed. "So names…" Alyss prompted, then shoved some food in Will's mouth.

He chewed it, swallowed with some difficulty, grimaced then said, "Girl names first. Go."

"Oh, Well…" She had assumed he had wanted to go first. "I like Olivia and Lena. What about you?"

He swallowed another reluctant bite then said, "I like Morgan and Anke, but," Alyss pushed another bite between his lips, "I really like Nellie and Rosalie, Rosaline, Rosalind, those… 'Rosy' names."

Alyss laughed. "Nellie reminds me of something you'd say to a horse. 'Whoa, Nellie!' Do you ever say that to Tug?" Will shook his head. "Well I do like **********."

Will smiled. "And I also like ***."

"Decide between those two later?" Will nodded. Alyss prepared another bite. He turned away and Alyss stabbed his face with the spoon, leaving a spot of food on his face. "Ooh! Sorry!" she said, wiping it off gently with her sleeve. "If you eat a little more we can talk about boy names."

Will shook his head again. "I'm full now. Besides, boy names are too hard."

"Why?" Alyss put the half-full bowl on the table again.

"Well… Neither of us have any strong females in our life- well, other than Pauline and Evenlyn- but for strong men and boy we have Halt and Horace and the Skandians and the different rangers in the Corps and the people you work with, like George…"

"Whose the boy?"

Will laughed a little, then started coughing lightly, which made him wince, curl up and grab his side. Alyss grabbed his arm to support him. He took her hand off , but held it in his while he carefully lowered himself to the bed. "Horace," he whispered.

Alyss smiled back. "You need to drink some water, and what were the names Halt suggested?"

"I am not thirsty," Will replied automatically then thought for a moment before finishing, "He suggested… Liam, Noah, Ethan… er… James, Gabriel (I know, yuck) Carter (I liked that one), Eli, Zach and… uh… Miles. Sorry, it's kind of hard to think still…"

"I… uh…" Alyss was trying to think of a nice way to put this. "Don't really like any of those names. Well, maybe Carter and Zach and Ethan. And yes you will drink water. When was the last time you drank anything?"

"I don't know, and fine. But yeah, I like those names too, along with Liam." Will reluctantly drank the water Alyss shoved in his face.

"Good…" Alyss lifted the cup-bowl thing away and set it next to the food. Will was still holding her hand, making things more difficult. Not tat Alyss minded or anything…"So do you want to decide on this now too, or…"

Will shook his head again, head shaking and nodding being his primary way of communicating without pain. "We have time. How long do we have?"

Alyss did the math in her head. She nodded, shocked at how much time had gone by. "Seven months…"

Will looked up, like he always did when he was thinking. "I am not sure it nine minus seven is two, or if that's even the right math to do, but I'll trust you because your mind is working right."

His comment brought Alyss back to reality. In all honesty, she had completely forgotten that he still had a bad concussion. "Is your head hurting?" She asked, worry engraved in her brow.

Will sighed and nodded. "I wasn't going to tell you…"

"I know," Alyss cut him off. "Drink some more and then you can sleep. And when was the last time you peed?" She tried to let go of his hand, but he was holding it still. He squeezed and let go.

Will rolled his eyes. "Fine. For you dear. And to the question, I am not really sure, but it feels like a long time ago."

"Thank you darling," Replied Alyss as she shoved the water back in Will's face. He drank the rest and, after she got more water for him to let him do his business in peace, she tucked him in and kissed him. But even then she stayed, sitting on the side of his bed and stroking his hair as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>"Wow!" Halt yelled as soon as the cabin door was closed. "Of course!"<p>

"Look, Halt, there's no point in freaking-"

"No point in freaking out?" Halt yelled back. "You, me and a pregnant girl came all the way here _without _backup and are relying on 50 un-trained men to fight off the _Temujai_. Do you want to start freaking out with me?"

"I know this looks bad but-"

Halt cut him off with a naughty word, "Yeah," that the page might have mistaken for a type of landmark that was abundant in that mountainous area.

"You are full of profanity today," noted Horace.

Halt sat on the edge of a bed and put his head in his hands, his fingers running through his uneven hair. Horace sat beside him. "It's not just the Temujai and the men, is it?"

Before Halt could answer Alyss walked in. She looked happy until she saw Halt. "Halt?" She asked cautiously, "What happened?" The last question she directed at Horace.

"Bad day," Horace covered for Halt who got up and paced the back of the room. Alyss gave him the 'elaborate please' eyebrows and Horace continued. "We had to teach the Shiriki men how to shoot and be stealthy, and I had to teach them about battle formations. I know what you're going to ask. The men did fine and they're really good at shooting and sneaking around, but they're not 100% ready to go fight. And we have a small problem…"

Halt laughed. "The Temujai are a _small_ problem. Ha! You crack me up Horace."

"Yeah… So the Temujai are getting closer." Horace told Alyss the Dam story.

"That might work," She said.

Halt turned towards her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, obviously not to clean them out, but for a primary defense. We're in an elevated valley right? And there's a pass that you have to go through to get here, right? We could make a wall, but have a little path that we could go through to reduce their numbers if need be."

"Like Nihon-Ja!" Horace was always excitable at the mention of Nihon-Ja.

"Exactly."

Halt thought it over for a moment. "But that wall was mostly built." Alyss saw his point. The wall would take too long to build and would use too many men to build it. She saw Horace's shoulders drop too, and she knew he understood too.

"Then we'd best hope Rodney gets here soon."

"Yes," Agreed Halt solemnly. "So we need to think of a plan for reducing their numbers then."

Alyss, though she had little experience with battle strategy, was eager to help. "What if you attacked early in the morning, like before everyone wakes up but after the last watchmen of the night are getting bored and sleepy. Target them first, but hit them before they can make a noise."

Horace nodded to Halt. The three of them worked out the chinks in the plan and when they were done Horace gathered the men up and told them the plan. Though it was extremely short notice Horace had confidence. Halt was still a bit dubious, but knew that if the men could see that they would fail. Better to have Horace do the talking and encouraging because he believed it.

"They do use bows and stealth a lot Halt," Alyss pointed out as she folded her white dress. She had changed while the boys were making their announcements. "Plus, they're defending their own land. They know it better than the Temujai do and want to win more."

"She has a point," Horace quickly backed Alyss up.

"Yeah…" Halt gave in too quickly.

Alyss stopped folding. She waited until Horace moved behind the screen to change. "It's not just the Temujai that's stressing you out, it is," She said quietly so that Horace, who was all the way across the room, couldn't hear her.

"It's ok," Halt said loudly. "Horace asked earlier."

"I what?" Horace yelled back and Halt smiled.

"So…?" Alyss tapped her foot.

Halt sighed and rolled his eyes at her. "You know…"

"Baby? Will?…"

"Both," Halt said. "Will's still so hurt. Still concussed. I don't know… well… And you. When are you due?"

Alyss thought back to her conversation with Moema. She put her hands around her tummy. "Two months…"

"Well, I'll get you back before then."

Alyss hoped so, but in her heart she felt otherwise. Horace walked back over and threw his clothes on his bunk. He was wearing a robe from Castle Araluen and Alyss hoped some more layers underneath.

"I hope you're wearing clothes under that…" Halt had apparently been thinking the same thing.

"Of course!" He peeled open the robe to show them his pajamas.

"Good. But why didn't you put your clothes away? Look at Alyss' bunk." Her bunk was neat and tidy. All of her extra clothes were put into the bag she had brought them in. Halt's bunk was also tidy, but the blankets were not as crisp as Alyss'. Horace had clothes strewn everywhere already. He grumbled as he picked the clothes up and stuffed them into a bag. He and Halt went back and forth about the tidiness of their beds and portion sizes at dinner.

Suddenly Alyss gasped and made a small, "Ooh!" noise.

"What?" Halt ran over. "What happened? What hurts?"

Alyss laughed. "Nothing. Here, put your hand right there…" She took his hand and set it on her stomach.

Halt laughed. "Wow…"

"What?" Horace put his hand next to Halt's then laughed. "A little foot just hi-fived my hand!"

"Does this happen a lot?" Halt asked.

Alyss nodded, "But it doesn't hurt at all. It's been doing this for three months now."

"Does it suck being pregnant?" Asked Horace.

Alyss had to think. "There are ups and downs…" She finally said.

"What are the ups?"

"Uh… It's exciting. I also don't… well… never mind."

"No seriously, what?" Horace was seriously interested. Halt just shook his head.

"Why do you want to know so bad?" Alyss asked, then actually thought about it. "Wait. Are you asking for Evenlyn?"

"So, how do you think Will feels about all of this?" Horace quickly changed subjects. Alyss and Halt laughed. "No…" Moaned Horace. "I'm just curious."

"Ask him," Alyss threw her hands in the air. "I don't know, but I think he's excited. He was very happy when I told him. But Halt almost killed him." Halt nodded, remembering. "He flipped out on us, well mainly Will because… yeah."

"But then I was happy because I remembered that they're married and over 20 and I was going to be a grandpa!" Finished Halt, obviously distracted from his previous stress.

"We should go to sleep now, though," Alyss reminded them. "You're going to be getting up early to go do your little attack, so you're going to want to sleep."

"Yeah, good point," Horace went to his bag and pulled out his clothes for the next day, which he threw on a chair that was next to his bunk. His sword was already leaning against his bed. Halt grabbed some clothes and went behind the screen to change.

Alyss climbed into her bed. "Horace?" She called across the room.

He looked up from his preparations. "What?"

"Will you wake me up when you do? I want to be there when you guys leave."

"Uh… sure… Only if you want to."

Alyss nodded, "I do. Goodnight," Then she raised her voice and called out, "Goodnight Halt!"

He yelled it back, but when he finally was ready to go to sleep he tucked his sleeping daughter-in-law in before tucking into his own bed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: CALLING ALL PERCY JACKSON FANS! If you liked PjatO please read Nico's Summer Diary. The third story in the series will be coming out JUNE 8th! I am writing it with my friend Ann (Yes, she's the real life Ann). She wrote Nico #2 called Ann's English Journal. She is the GoddessofBassoons.**

**If you are not a PjatO fan disregard that paragraph. LONGEST CHAPTER YET OH YEAH! Please review! ESPECIALLY if you like it. **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'm sorry I havent' written for a while. I've been really buisy with work and Nico and Ann, speaking of which, if you have read up until the third Percy Jackson book please check Nico and Ann out. It's on my joint account TeamNightfury. **

**Thanks!**

**~April**

* * *

><p>The morning came bright and early, but more early than bright to Horace. The sun hadn't yet started to peek above the many hills surrounding the village, the sky still a light navy stretched way into the distance. The little valley was as foggy as Horace was that morning.<p>

"…Sleeping like a bear," Halt was saying. Horace ignored the insult to his name, partly because he had only heard half of it and it was too early to care anyways. Halt tried again. "Oh, Sunrise Warrior. Rise and shine." He laughed at his own pun. Horace groaned and pulled the blanket over his head. He still lay on his back, his arms over his face, completely covered in blanket.

As the shield slammed into his stomach grunted and sat up suddenly. He glared at the shield and the attacker- who was giggling even more now- then pushed it off of himself along with the blankets. "I'm up, I'm up…" He grumbled.

The boys were ready within a few minutes having packed the night before, and though they were quiet Alyss still woke up and leaned against one of the bunks as she watched them get ready. "Do you have everything?" She ran down a list of supplies they had written down together the night before. It wasn't long but from time to time one of the boys would say "Oh darn," (or something along those lines) and go grab what they had forgotten. While they made final preparations- sharpening and counting weapons, repacking bags to be more portable- Alyss fixed a small breakfast for them. When they returned there would be a bigger breakfast with the whole village, she knew, but a little energy for the hike down and back could never hurt.

They munched on the last of the rations they had brought for the trip over while thinking about what they were about to undertake. It was last minute, risky. But leaving the Temujai in peace to creep closer and closer was even riskier, Halt knew. He just hoped that things wouldn't go too badly.

One more time, Alyss checked to see that they were prepared and ready to go. Then she watched from the doorway of the cabin as Horace and Halt gathered the man and hiked silently down the hill and into the forest.

* * *

><p>Alyss climbed right back into bed eagerly, after the warriors had gone. The night before hadn't been late, but it was an early morning. Much earlier than pregnant Alyss was used to. She slept soundly until the first bit of light came crawling across the sky. The pink-orange reflected off of her clean, white linen courier dress as she hurried to check up on Will. He was still sleeping soundly, just as she had expected. Quietly, she closed the door and went to look for something to do until the boys came back.<p>

But there was nothing to do. It was early, and some people were moving about, but no one she knew. Being a courier in a foreign country, it was Alyss' duty to meet new people and talk with them. That was her strength. Unfortunately, she wasn't familiar with the language and who spoke somewhat decent Galician. Most of the young adults and children knew decent Galician, but many of the older adults were only fluent in their own tongue. Just as she was about to take a leap of faith, she heard music. It floated up from somewhere unknown and filled the air with it's silver sound. 'A flute,' Alyss thought.

Back when she was in the ward, a group of musicians had come through the kingdom. Before they left for a different fief, they played a small concert for the children. Alyss had been amazed by the flute player, how she could play so high and so contrastingly low, how fast her fingers had moved, how concentrated her breaths were, and her tone. Alyss loved that silvery, light, vibrato-filled tone. That one concert changed her life… for the whole month that she spent imagining herself as a concert flautist. She danced around, wiggling her fingers and singing ascending and descending notes, imagining that she was the only woman in the pack of traveling musicians, as the flute player had been. But then Alyss grew and realized that her fantasy could never happen. Orphans like her didn't have access to expensive instruments or teachers. Soon her dream to become a courier took its spot back…

Alyss followed the music. The echoing of the small, elevated valley that they were in threw the sound off. Over a small hill she found the source, a young Shiriki boy playing towards the sunrise and the mountains. He stopped when he saw her. Slowly, Alyss walked over and sat down on the top of the hill. There was a little two-foot-high cliff that dropped off to where the boy was standing. Alyss hung her feet off of it, though her feet touched the ground. "That was beautiful," She said to the boy in an encouraging tone.

He was small, thin and timid looking. He didn't say anything and slowly hid behind his flute.

"My name is Alyss," she continued. "When I was young I wanted to play that," she gestured to the flute, not sure if it was the same word in both languages, "But I didn't ever learn. How old are you?"

The boy shrugged.

"Do you know Galician well?" The boy started to shrug, but paused and nodded. Alyss continued slowly and gently. "Can you play some more for me?"

The boy started to shrug again, but thought. Then he began to play something slow and beautiful. As Alyss listened she hoped that she could have a girl that could someday play the flute like that. When he was done Alyss smiled big to show how much she liked it. "Good job," she praised. "Did you learn from someone?"

He shook his head.

"You taught yourself?" Alyss asked, truly surprised.

The boy nodded.

"Have you ever taught anyone?" Shake. "Have you ever thought about teaching someone?" Shrug. "Would you want to?" Hesitant nod. "What about me? Would you teach me?" Half-shrug, nod.

The boy handed Alyss the flute. It was a lightweight wood, dark brown with red pained accents. Holes were drilled in it for keys and one for the mouthpiece. Alyss let the boy drag her fingers to the right holes, and control to her arms to get them in the right position. Alyss stood in the middle of the forest awkwardly holding a wooden flute up to her face. It felt so unnatural to her. Afraid to move, she glanced out of the corner of her eye at the boy. He gestured for her to play it. Alyss sucked in a big breath of air, then puffed it out. No sound came from the flute. The boy shook his head. He blew, circling a small section of his lips. Alyss tried again, but with more concentrated air. The flute made one shaky note, it's pitch jumping up into the high register then falling back down over and over. And suddenly the world was spinning and Alyss collapsed back onto the mini-cliff, laughing. The boy laughed too as Alyss handed his flute back.

"Could I come back and learn some more another day?" Alyss asked when she finally could see straight again.

The boy nodded, smiling.

"What is your name?"

And he finally spoke, though it was only one word. "Kele."

"Good to meet you Kele," Alyss bowed. "I'm Lady Alyss. Good to see you."

* * *

><p>Will still slept like a rock. Both of his arms were over the blankets and his head was propped up and several folded blankets and there was a line of drool out of the right corner of his mouth. Alyss left again, but didn't leave the feeling that something was wrong. She didn't have much time to worry about Will, because when she walked out of his cabin the attack party was coming back up the hill. Her heart jumped as she saw Halt and Horace alive, and she called out to them. "Halt!" She waved enthusiastically and ran up to them.<p>

Halt looked over at her with a 'Not right now look' and hurried Horace off, holding him firmly by the arm. "Go back to the cabin," he yelled back to her, "I'll be there soon!"

Alyss couldn't stand waiting in the cabin. She got up and searched for the medical tent that she had seen, but couldn't remember where. It was a long cabin with a big carved fish above the door. Inside beds were close together and it was cramped and dark. Alyss searched through the people trying to see if Horace was one of the injured. She was hoping not to find him when she did. He was sitting up and wincing. A blob of mottled green-brown stood next to him, presumably Halt. Alyss ran to them, dodging doctors and beds that stuck out in her way.

"What happened?" She demanded.

Halt turned towards her. "What happened to our cabin?"

"Do you really expect me to wait? First Will, now Horace…"

"I'm fine, really," Horace said bashfully. "It's really nothing."

"Then why are you getting your arm bandaged?"

Horace paused. "We were walking back and (ah, ow) I caught my arm on a tree. It was a very sharp (ow ow) tree and I cut my arm just under the shoulder open."

Alyss sighed and sat down. "So how did it go?"

Everyone that morning woke up on time and they began their hike just the at the planned time. But the hike took longer than expected. The plan was to slowly take out each of the night watch, but they knew they didn't have time. The best archers, determined the day before, lined up with Halt, and on the count of three took the closest few out. Then, with a lighted arrow they drew the Temujai out and shot at them from the cover of the east side of the forest. And when the Temujai started to form their ranks, the Shiriki slipped away, going a different way just in case of spies. They slowly made their way back around to the west side of the forest and then back to the village. Only two injuries.

"Who was the other one?" Alyss asked.

"Scraped knee," Halt explained. "Horace bumped him as he jumped away from the tree."

Horace smiled shyly as the man finished wrapping up his arm in the same material as Will's abdomen. "I feel bad about it…"

"Course," Halt cut him off from saying more. "Let's go see Will. We've been so busy lately."

* * *

><p>"Wow," Commented Alyss. "He's still asleep…"<p>

"What is it, like noon maybe?" Horace squinted up at the sun directly above them.

"Guess he's tired…" Halt said starting to leave.

Drums began beating and Horace jumped. "Ooh! We don't want to miss the victory breakfast… er… probably lunch now."

Alyss glanced back into Will's room. He _looked_ fine. Well, there was nothing to _see _here.

Apparently, breakfast is always served in the Shiriki village, even if lunch is just going to be in five minutes anyways. This breakfast was going to be special. Even though they were not rid of the Temujai, the operation had gone very well and deserved celebrating. As Halt walked towards the big fire he could smell meat cooking. Looking over at Horace, he saw that the Kurokuma was pleased with what he smelled.

People were already gathering. Women had been there all morning, cooking and getting ready. Now children ran around and played and the men started gathering. Takoda greeted them as they approached the circle. "Welcome. We eat soon. You ready?"

Alyss nodded, "Yes. Thank you."

Then the festivities began. The food was great and after everyone was done a drum started beating. A teenage boy got up and began dancing around the fire, kicking his feet up rhythmically with the drum. Soon the other people of the village were up on their feet too, dancing and weaving their way around the circle. Alyss found herself holding hands with a bewildered Horace and a Shiriki woman. They skipped around and around, speeding up with the drum. Alyss began to laugh, throwing her head back as her hair flipped behind her. Horace began laughing too. Faster and faster, around and around, until the drumbeat stopped and Alyss crashed down onto a bench, panting and laughing. Horace sat down beside her, smiling.

"How's Soybean?" He put a hand on her stomach.

She put her hands on Soybean too. "Good, aren't you little baby?"

Soybean kicked then flipped in response.

Halt appeared and put his hand on her stomach as well, just as Soybean calmed down. "How is he/she?" He asked.

Soybean kicked again.

"How close are we?" Halt asked, though in the back of his mind he was thinking how it was so strange how something could live and grow inside something else. Then again, that's what a parasite did, but…

"Two months minus a week," Alyss thought about how long it was really. How long was two months minus a week? The seven months and a week had already gone by so quickly.

"That's coming up fast," Halt commented, reading her mind, "We're going to get you home before then. We should check on Will again, speaking of going home. Hopefully he is doing well enough soon to take you home."

Halt stood up and helped Horace stand, who then helped Halt drag Alyss up. "Thanks," She brushed herself off. Then they walked back to Will's hut.

Alyss opened the door slowly and peeked in. Still, there was no action in the room. Will's eyes still closed, his breathing still even.

"What time is it?" Alyss poked her head outside and looked up at the sky. Horace looked too.

"About… maybe 1 o'clock…"

Alyss sighed and looked back at Will again. "Maybe he needs his… recovery sleep…Yeah."

Halt looked in. "Well, getting better is hard work."

"Yeah…" Alyss spaced out, staring at him. "So… let him rest?"

"Sure," Horace replied. "I brought a game for just in case. Wan to go play?"

To the boys a card game seemed more interesting than a sleeping person, so as soon as Alyss had kissed Will's hot head they went back to the cabin and played.

"Really… _Really_… after all we've been through?" Halt just smiled at the amazing hand that he had just put down. "Fine…" Horace slapped his cards down and smiled even wider than Halt's had been. That smile on Halt's face was now fading.

"Good move Horace…" he said, dazed.

Alyss smiled. She was sitting on her bed, deciding what clothes of hers, Halt's and Horace's needed washing. This was a time that she wasn't doing something better or sleeping. Plus, she never liked Poker.

Halt dealt again as Horace pulled Halt's wagered meat strips towards his side of the table. They looked at their own cards then placed their bets as a knock came from the door. It was Moki, looking very anxious and urgent.

"What is it Moki?" Halt asked, reading his expression.

"You must come at once. It is Will Treaty."

Alyss jumped up, whacking her head on the bunk above her. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Moki shook his head. "Not sure. Come now, though. He needs you right away."

Will sat propped up even more, a cold cloth on his head. He was moaning and his eyelids would occasionally flutter.

"The healer came in, check on Will Treaty. Big fever, very hot, spitting food out of mouth."

Alyss wasn't sure what that last symptom was, but none of it sounded good.

"How is his wound?" Halt asked.

Takoda and the healer moved over to Will and unwrapped his bandages. The sight of the green, pussy gash in Will's stomach could have single handedly gotten Alyss out of the room again, but she held her composure and her stomach just barely.

"So that's why he's so sick…" Halt mumbled.

And then Alyss understood what Takoda had meant when he had said "Spitting food out of his mouth." At the sight of Will's painful regurgitation Alyss lost it. She ran outside to find safety from the sickness in that house. The moment of confusion turned into a moment of awkwardness. "Horace, go check up on her," Instructed Halt as he frantically helped Takoda and the healer deal with the sick boy. Horace didn't need to be asked again.

He found Alyss sitting on the ground right outside, her arms crossed over her big belly. She was staring wide-eyed at a piece of ground right in front of her. She was paler than usual. Horace stood awkwardly for a moment before sitting down and saying, "Hey."

Alyss replied by suddenly pitching forward and then leaning over to the side that Horace wasn't sitting on, and throwing up onto a bush that happened to be in the way. For a moment after she was done she just stayed in that position, then coughed, wiped her mouth.

"I-I don't know why I just, well, threw up, you know. I mean, the morning sickness was all gone and then- ugh- I can't even think about it without feeling sick…" Alyss babbled on after a minute to keep herself from adding to the puddle next to her. "I don't even know why. I mean it's not like it smelled bad and vomit has never bothered me before-"

Horace cut her off. "Shhh…"

"And I should have known that his head shouldn't have been hot. Oh, when I kissed his head it was like, 5 million degrees. My motherly skills are lacking. I'm going to fail Soybean! Oh no oh no..." Alyss continued her nervous babble.

Horace shushed her again, brushing a peice of stray hair back. Alyss leaned her head back against the cabin, eyes closed. She looked so sad, yet calm. Until a tear slipped out.

"I want my baby to have a daddy, Horace, and right now, well… you saw in there, his gash. And I- I don't know…" the one tear turned to many. Horace opened up his arms and Alyss took that as a safe place to cry.

"We're all worried and- damn. I suck at this…" Alyss laughed. "Anyways, you just have to believe in him and in Takoda and the magic of the Shiriki healer. You need to believe that he'll get better."

Alyss looked up at him and nodded. "Do I need to go back in?"

Horace thought. "Not if you don't want to. If it makes you uncomfortable."

Alyss thought. "I'll try it again. But will you go first to make sure he isn't puking again?"

And when the coast was clear Alyss went back in and sat with the sleeping Will until she was ready to go back to her own cabin around midnight.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Please review! Thanks!**


End file.
